1826.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



323 



scier.ce, than muny pur^uils ivliicli linve been 

 dignitieil with lh,a IiiIk) is just liegiiining; to be 

 understood in Gient JJiitaiii. For al)oiit ten 

 years the new method ot" constructing roads, first 

 adopted and practised by ftir iVrAil.im, has been 

 pursued there ; and such has been the success 

 which has attended it, so complete has tieen 

 the conviction of its superiority over all former 

 methods, wherever it has been inlroiIucctl,'lliat 

 conflicting interest and prejudice, »vliich, in com- 

 mon with every important improvement, it has 

 had to encounter, have in this short time been 

 so completely removed, that its excellence can 

 ro longer be o,uestione(l ; and there can be no 

 doubt that it ivill henceforth be adopted in pre- 

 ference to all other modes of making and re- 

 pairing roads in that kingdom. Travellers of 

 all descriptions, mail conlrnctors, and civil en- 

 gineers, parliament and people, unite in the 

 most ample testimonials in ils favour, and libe- 

 ral grants have been made lo Mr !\I'Adaro in 

 remuneration for his services in this department 

 as a public benefactor. 



A concise descriplion of the plan on which 

 these roads are constructed is all that our limits 

 will admit. For a more particular and salisfac- 

 tory account we must refer to the Essay of Mr. 

 M'Adain l)!rriself',lhe eighth edition of which was 

 published in London the last year, and which 

 w'e hope soon to see republished in this country. 

 li\£ method mainly consists, after preparing Ihe 

 bed of ths road for Ihe purpose (in doing which 

 all the stones near the surfare must be removed,) 

 in covering it wiih a fitoi iiig of broken stone 

 ol' eight or 1en inches in ihickne-s, the larges: 

 stone not to exceed six ounces in weight. These 

 fragments of slcne are soon worn smooth iiy the 

 travelling, and unite by their angles into a solid,, 

 impenetrable mass, over which the wlieelsof 

 the heavie.sl. carriage will pa':? wilhoul making 

 any sensible impression. Another imporlan; 

 part of the system is lo have the side-gullers or 

 water-courses so as effectually lo drain the 

 water from ihe earthy bed of Ihe road, ihat it 

 may not be mjurionsly aflecled by ihe winter 

 frost ; and for Ihis purpose it is desirable, that 

 the bed of the road ."ihould not be below the 

 level of the adjacent lields, but when [iractica- 

 ble raised a little above that level. The im- 

 pervious covering or roofing of stone will pre- 

 vent any inconvenience trom the rain, which 

 falls upon il ; and, thus prolecied, the road is 

 subject to no other injury ihan the necessarv 

 but gradual wear of the stone materials of which 

 it is consltucted. Under such circumstances an 

 earthy bed is even preferred to a rocky one, as 

 it yields more beneath the weight of the load 

 carried over il, and the wear o( tlie road is less 

 on that account. It is particu arly insisted on 

 by Mr Rl'Adam, Ihat no stones exceeding six 

 ounces in weight be admitted in any part ol 

 the road. If larger stones be placed at liollom, 

 according lo the method which has been long 

 pursued by many road-maiiers, while those ofa 

 i^maller size are placed on the surface, the larger 

 stones will in a short time rise to the lop, thus 

 making the surface rongfa and uneven, and at liir- 

 same lime ]ieiietralde by the rain-water, \vhiidi 

 wiil gradually undeniiine and destroy the fouii- 

 dalion or bed of the road. 



Such is a brief outline of Ihe manner of mak- 

 ing roads, which we hope <'re long to see ex- 

 tensively introduced iuio our country. 



The experiment has been tried, and wilh Ibc ' 

 best success, in this country. Two ol'the street-' ' 

 in the town of New-Bedford were constructed, 

 last year upon Ibis plan, and we believe a lew 1 

 other attempts ha\ e been made on a small scale, ■ 

 siitiicient to satisfy all, who have bad an op- 

 porlunily of witnessing them, of Ihe CNcelleiue 

 of the syslem. In the cities of London and 

 Bristol, the pa\emenls of several entire streols 

 have been taken up, and the brnUeii-stone roads 

 of Mr ftrAilain subsiiluled in their place. This 

 h.is been done from a ronviclion o! the snjieri- 

 ority of the sloned ro-,id lor sinoolhuess and ease 

 o( diaught ; while in rases where pavements 

 are not already laid, it will be found lo aflord 

 not only a much belter road, but a much more 

 economical one, than Ihe (dd method of paving. 



Discovery nnd introdiiclion cf Schiiijtkitl Coal — 

 Awhracile— Stone Coi:! of Sclinijikiti County. 

 We are led to believe that the following his- 

 tory of the u-e and iiilrodiH lion of aiilhracite in 

 Pennsylvania, will not be uninteresting lo our 

 readers. This coal was known lo exist in this 

 neighborhood more Ihan forly years ago ; and 

 some search was made, but ihe coal I'oiind lieing 

 so very different from any which iVas previous- 

 ly known, it was not thought lobe of any value, 

 and the search was abandoned. It is supposed 

 lo be forly years, since a blacksmith by the 

 name of VVhelsIone, found coals and used them 

 in his smilhshop. At a very early period. 

 Judge Cooper declared his belief in Ihe exist- 

 ence of coal in this dislrict, and the Messrs. 

 Polls ex[)iored various [daces along Ihe old Sun- 

 bury road, but success did not attend iheii ope- 

 rations. A Mr William Moriis, afterwards be- 

 came the proprietor of most of the coal land sal 

 the head of our canals; he found coal, and took 

 some quantity lo I'hiladelphia, about the year 

 1800; but all his efibrts to bring them into use, 

 Ijiileil, and he abandoned the project, and sold 

 his lands to their jiresent proprietor, Mr Pott. 



l! does not appear Ihat much notice was taken 

 of the coal from Ihe time of Whetstone, and the 

 search made by the Messrs Potts, until about 

 twenty years ago ; when a person by the name 

 of Peter Basteus, a blue dyer, in building Ihe 

 valley forge, found coal in the tail race. About 

 the same time a Mr David Berlin, a blacksmith, 

 in this neighborhood, permanently commenced 

 .and introduced Ihe use of Stone Coal in the 

 smith's forge, and conlinued to use and instrncl 

 others in their use for many years afterwards. 

 But few persons, however could he induced lo 

 use them ; prejudice and old habits again be- 

 came victorious, and appenr to have lieid un- 

 disputed sway until about the year 1812. when 

 Mr George Shoemaker a resident of this town, 

 and Nicho All<-n. discoverer! coal, on a ()iece of 

 j land Ihey bad purchaseil, now- called Cenlrevilte. 

 Allen soon became disheartened and gave up 

 the concern !o Shoemaker, who, receiving en- 

 conragement froni some genlli men in Philadel- 

 phia, got out a quaotiiy of coal and. took nine 

 w,-)gon loads lo Philadeipliia. Here again, our 

 cnal met with a host ol opptisiiion. On two 

 wagon loads, IMr S. got the carriage paid. Ihe 

 others be gave away lo [lersons who would at 

 ienipt lo use them. J'he result was against the 

 coal, those -.vho tried them, pronounced theui 

 ■^toue and not coal, good for nothing, and Shoe- 

 maker an imposlor. At leiiglh, after a multi- 

 tude ol diuappoininieuls, and when Shoemaker 



was nboul II) abaiul.ii) ibe co;d ami return liome 

 Messrs I'delion ami lii.'-hop, of Dalowarecounly 

 in.-ide an expeiiiiKriil Willi some of the coalm 

 their i-i)lling mill, and t'.Mind ihem lo succeed be- 

 yond expi'clalniii, and lo be a highly valuable nnd 

 u-^clul fuel. The result of their experiments 

 was published al ihe time in the Philadelphia 

 pa[iers. ' Some experiments wilh Ihe coal were 

 made in Ihe w-irks at ibe falls of Schuylkill, but 

 wilhorii success. Mr Wernnag, ihe manager al 

 Ibe Plueiiix works at French creek also made 

 Irial of our coal, and i'mmd ihem eminently use- 

 tul- From Ihat lime forw-ard, ibe use of ihe 

 coal spread rapidly, and now bids (air to become 

 a most important and valuable branch u( trade, 

 anil lo produce re..«i;Us highly beoeticial to the 

 interests id' Pennsylvania generally. 



U'he foregoing -stalemenl may appear minute, 

 but il is due to the individuals who labored lo 

 force upon us the great benehls which coal is 

 and will be in our stale. W e are awaie Ihat 

 the credit of fiointing out the use, and perhaps 

 ol ili-coveriiig Ihe .'^ntbracile, has been claimed 

 by, and awarded to, individuals in anollier part of 

 our stale : but il is within ihe knowledge of ma- 

 ny, Ihat lliose individuals joined in pronouncing 

 the coal gocul for nolhing. We have abundant 

 testimony also for the facts and dates we have 

 given; from which il appears, that to Mr l.'a\id 

 Berlin, George shoemaker, and Messrs, Mellon 

 &. Bishop, are we indebted fur Ihe discover-*' 

 o( ihe use lind inlrnduciion of our Anlhracile or 

 stone coal. — Miner's Jour. 



HUSH ROPE. 

 A vine called ihe bush rope by the wood-ct;t- 

 leis, on account of its use in hauling onl llie 

 heaviest timber, has a singular appearance in 

 the (crests ofrpemarara. Sometimes vou see it 

 nearly a.s thick as a man's body, twisted like a 

 cork screw, round the tallest trees, and rearing 

 its head high above their lops. At oliier limes 

 three or four of Ihein, like strands in a cable, 

 join Ire* and free, and branch and branch (n- 

 gelher. Olhers descending from on high, take 

 root as soon as their extremity louc-hes the 

 ground, and apfiear like shrouds and slays sup- 

 purling the mainmast of a line of balllie ship; 

 w idle oliirrs, sending out parallel, id/lique, hor- 

 'izonlal, and perpendicular shoots in all direc- 

 tions, put you in mind ot' what travellers call 

 a matted forest. Oflenlimes a tree, about a 

 hundred tcet high, uprooted by the whirlwind, 

 is stopped in lis fall by these an)azing cables of 

 nature ; and hence il is that you account for 

 Ihe phenomenon of seeing irees, not only vefre- 

 tating, ImiI sending forth ^igoronsshools, though 

 fat from their perpendicular, and their trunks 

 inclined lo every degree from the meridian lo 

 •ihe horizon. 'Phe heads remain hrmly support- 

 ed by Ihe niish rope ; many of their roots soon 

 refix themselves in the earth, and l're[|u»ntly a 

 strong shoot will sprout onl pprpeni!icuiarly 

 from near Ihe root ol the reclined trunk, and m 

 lime become a fine tree. 



Fire ill .'Vets' York. — 'Ihe new and heaiiliful 

 range of buildings silualed in Wiiiiam and G.ir- 

 den streets. calied^Ex<.liange Buildings. were ile- 

 slroyeil by tire on Friday morning lasl. The 

 loss is estimated at not less ihan jjii00,000 ; and 

 there was insurance lo Ihe amount of^l3<!,0lK> 



The range consisted of seveo fourslQi'^ t,H* 

 buildings. 



